Concerns about climate change have resulted in increasing attention on tracking and controlling emissions of atmospheric carbon and other greenhouse gases. Much of this attention has been focused on two areas: road-going vehicles and industrial emissions. Other sectors of the economy, however, merit attention as well.
Merely by way of example, agricultural activities can have a substantial impact on atmospheric carbon. Monika Rastogi, et al., “Emission of Carbon Dioxide from Soil,” Current Science, vol. 82, no. 5 (Mar. 10, 2002), pp. 510-17, which is hereby incorporated by reference, describes the complex interactions between agriculture and atmospheric carbon. For instance, emissions from agricultural vehicles such as tractors, combines, and/or the like increase atmospheric carbon in the presence of other greenhouse gases, in the same way that emissions from other vehicles do. Moreover, many agricultural chemicals, such as pesticides and fertilizers, and/or the like contain nitrogen and/or other compounds that may aerosolize and/or evaporate during or after application, thereby adding greenhouse gases to the environment. On the other side of the ledger, agricultural crops serve as carbon sequestration vehicles, in that they capture dioxide and convert the carbon into solid form.
While much of the sequestered carbon is harvested with the crops, a substantial portion remains in the fields as stubble. This stubble can be beneficial, in that it can add nutrients to the soil for future crops; accordingly, in many cases, a field is tilled, disked, or otherwise turned over after harvest and/or before planting season. The nature of the tilling activities can have a substantial impact on how much carbon remain sequestered and how much, conversely, is released into the atmosphere.
For example, conventional tilling disturbs a significant amount of soil and therefore releases significant carbon into the atmosphere. Conservation tilling, on the other hand, seeks to disturb significantly less soil than traditional methods, and therefore leave significantly more carbon undisturbed and sequestered.
As a result, farmers can realize carbon credits through the use of conservation tilling. Merely by way of example, the Chicago Climate Exchange® (“CCX®”) offers soil carbon management offsets to farmers to pledge to engage in conservation telling (e.g., no-till and strip-till farming), provided such activities meet the CCX's requirements. For example, to qualify for soil carbon management offsets, a tillage practice must leave at least two thirds of the soil surface undisturbed at least two thirds of the residue remaining on the field surface. The CCX also requires all carbon sequestration projects to be enrolled through a registered carbon offset aggregator, and it requires all projects to be subject to verification.
A similar problem exists with respect to the application of agricultural chemicals. While it is known that agricultural chemicals can contribute greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, the amount of greenhouse gases emitted during the application of such chemicals is difficult to measure, because the emissions depend heavily on the nature of the application as well as prevailing environmental conditions. Accordingly, it is difficult to measure and/or verify any greenhouse gas emissions, or savings, related to the application of agricultural chemicals.
Presently, the process of verification is a time-intensive, and therefore expensive, process that requires manual inspection of tillage areas. Hence, there is a need for more robust and/or flexible tools and techniques for tracking and/or verifying greenhouse gas emissions and/or carbon sequestration projects, including but not limited to farming activities. It would be helpful for such tools and techniques to be able to track additional carbon impacts of such activities (e.g., vehicular emissions, emissions from chemical application, and/or the like).